Landscape Narrative of the Sundarban : Towards Collaborative Management by Bangladesh and India

Covering more than 10,000 kilo meters of deltaic floodplains across Bangladesh and India, the Sundarban region contains arguably the largest continuous block of mangrove ecosystem remaining in the world. The unique ecosystem is a delicate balance between the freshwater flows of the tributaries and distributaries of Ganges-Brahmaputra riverine system and saline waters of the Bay of Bengal. Divided by the international border, the mangrove forest, the rivers and canals, and the entire ecosystem of the Sundarban has often been seen as not one, but two separate ecosystems. Yet, the shared Sundarban region signifies a strong opportunity for strategic cooperation and coordinated or joint actions between Bangladesh and India, resulting in simultaneous poverty reduction and sustainable ecosystem management. Given that each country’s portion of the Sundarban is essentially part of the same ecosystem, the region will benefit from coordinated and collective policy development between Bangladesh and India on conservation strategies that can be implemented jointly or by each country individually.